Google Authorship Tutorial

Before embarking on this tutorial to implement Google Authorship on your website you might like to read our article on Google Authorship SEO - How To which discusses the principles of Google Authorship and why you should have it.

Google Authorship is by far one of the more important on site SEO techniques you can employ and we discuss that on Google+, our website and other social networks frequently. It's used here for example to attract traffic for niche search terms.

How To Implement Google Authorship

Follow these simple steps and you can start taking advantage of Google Authorship today:

Profile Photo

Go to Google+ and select "Profile" from the drop down side menu. While there change your profile photo to one with a head and shoulders shot.

Using The "Author" Tag

You should have a tag somewhere on each article. Something like "By:" or even better "Written By:" and then your name.

Name Match

The name in your byline should match your Google+ name exactly. For example, if your name has a hyphen in it then your byline and Google+ name should be identical. "Written By: John Smith-Jones" on your website should link to a Google+ page with the name "John Smith-Jones".

The Mark-up

Mail Verification

Linking your Google+ profile to the content you create requires one further step. You have to verify a mail address that belongs to the domain. For example, I use "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." and can receive mail to this address to verify that I write the articles on the blog for "whatnowebsite.co.uk".